Family sues over allegations of ewe doping

Published 6:00 pm, Thursday, February 7, 2008

The family of a livestock show participant has sued two Texas shows because they banned the 16-year-old from competing after her ewe tested positive for a drug that's typically used to make pigs leaner.

Kevin Kaplan, of Robstown, filed sued this week in Travis County District Court on behalf of his daughter, Hannah Kaplan, against the San Antonio Livestock Exposition and Travis County's Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo.

The Kaplans' lawyer, Dick Miller of San Saba, said Hannah was falsely accused of doping her ewe. She has passed a polygraph test and should be allowed to compete, he said. The lawsuit doesn't seek damages, but asks that she be allowed to enter the shows this year, he said.

"I think that livestock officials will admit that a contestant's animal can have a positive drug test without that contestant's knowing anything about the drug or participating into getting the drug into the animal," Miller said.

Hannah was awarded a $10,000 college scholarship when her pregnant ewe took second place in the San Antonio competition January last year. But 10 months later, the show sent a letter revoking the scholarship because of the ewe's positive test for ractopamine.

The San Antonio and Travis County exposition shows notified the Kaplans last month that Hannah was banned from competing for the next four years.

The family, who declined to comment, has been raising livestock for generations. They don't know why the ewe's urine tested positive for ractopamine, Miller said.

"It makes them have a range of emotions, and one of them is the shame of being accused of a drug offense," Miller said. "Even though they know they didn't do it, they think everyone else will assume they are guilty."

Officials with both livestock shows declined to comment on the lawsuit. J.D. Pauerstein, a lawyer for the San Antonio show, said he would let the legal process take its course.

Purdue University professor Allan Schinckel said ractopamine is added to pig feed to make the animals more muscular.

The drug hasn't been approved for sheep, but it could have been accidentally fed to sheep, he said.

"You know you can still have human error in a feedmill or mixing it, and it's hard to rule that out," he said.

Miller said pigs were also housed in the barn where Hannah's ewe was kept during the 2007 San Antonio show, when the animal tested positive.

The Kaplans typically muzzle their animals to control what they eat, but the prizewinning ewe was too big for a muzzle.

Hannah and Robert Kaplan took polygraph tests and passed them in April when they first learned about the positive drug test. The results were submitted to the San Antonio show, but the show didn't respond, Miller said. That show is currently happening and the Travis County show begins later this month.

District Judge Stephen Yelenosky this week denied Miller's request for a temporary restraining order against the livestock shows to enable Hannah to compete, Miller said.